10.30.06
Plan disposal when you buy
It’s called life-cycle planning: when you start to build/buy something, the plans must include how it will be disposed of. In one’s personal life, this means when you buy that vase, you must at that point decide how you will get rid of it: Goodwill? eBay? trash? Aunt Thelma? (will she want it)
The cold fact is that every material possession you acquire you (or your heirs) must eventually dispose of. (Obviously, this applies to equipment, not supplies consumed as part of living.) The vase, the book, the cellphone, the TV set, the kitchen knife, the collections of knick-knacks: all should have a final destination clearly assigned at the time you acquire them.
Why? Because, when you think about it, you really won’t know what to do with some of them, and that might make you rethink the acquisition. I’ve certainly noticed some hesitations now that I’m thinking this way. Disclosure: I started to think this way only when I started trying to dispose of stuff and realized that for quite a few things—fountain pen collection, for example—I really had no idea how to pass it along.
So, as you look at the fantabulous paperweight, try to figure out what you’ll do with it when the time comes to pass it along.
